Reprisal
Reprisal reprisal: ''n. an act of retaliation'' A collab between hopeless n00b and jane austen Prologue That night, the river raged with the fury of a thousand storms. It howled and threw itself at the shore and the rocks, dark grey water churning with malice. Each wave reared its head and sent droplets of foam winging away into the moonlight. But this river was not the only angry current, for upon its tumultuous waves sailed countless bodies of cats dead and alive, some in pools of their own blood, some in a vacuum of their own frantic thrashing. High pitched yowls blended into one continuous note. The cats poured from the trees across the river, paws thundering and tearing at the ground. Their opponents tumbled from the riverbanks, immediately throwing themselves at each other. Tearing claws, gnashing teeth, and wild lunges until the river became indistinguishable from the fighting cats below. One forest cat let out a cry of triumph as his opponent fell to the ground limply. Another river cat pushed her enemy's head under the water, again and again, until he did not resurface. She yowled in triumph, splashing ashore and throwing her ginger head back to the sky. " Rally, RiverClan!" she cried, green eyes burning with passion. " For Minnowstar- forwards!" " Forward!" came the affirmative response. Panic shone in the forest cats' eyes as their enemies surged past them, knocking them aside or crushing them. As the last cats left, a sudden quiet fell upon the rocks. Even the river itself seemed to subside, shocked by the sheer amount of bodies on the shore. But in the forest, everything was getting wilder. Forest cats were running back to camp, a frantic race, while the cats from the river surged onwards. Their hearts were full to the brim with fury, a quest to bring back their beloved leader, taken unjustfully from them. At last, the river cats reached the camp. A furious defense was put up by the enemies, but they were soon defeat and the torrent of angry cats soon poured in. Shocked yowls arose from the ThunderClan cats. But one remained calm- the large brown tom perched on the Highrock. He was almost too calm, and seemed fully unsurprised by the turn of events. " Give us back our leader!" the ginger she-cat from earlier cried, stepping forward from the crowd. " We wish no further bloodshed- return Minnowstar and we will leave." The leader curled his lip. " 'Return' her? Why should I return something I haven't taken?" he leered at her. She rose to the bait. " Because you kidnapped her, you scum!" " I did no such thing!" Shouting rose again. Once more, the ginger she-cat's voice sailed above the rest. " You really expect us to believe that? We followed Minnowstar's scent, and it led to yours. We aren't stupid, like the twenty of your warriors bleeding out on the beach." If this disturbed the leader, he didn't show it. " You can continue to fight, little Sandfoot. But I did not kidnap your precious leader-" a figure stepped out from behind him and collective gasps rose from the crowd. "- I came willingly," a softer, clear voice called out. " Why are you here? Why did you create such a mess?" " Minnowstar?" Sandfoot said, dumbfounded. " I-I don't understand." An uneasy quiet settled over the crowd. " He didn't kidnap me," Minnowstar growled, and annoyance was clear in her voice. " I joined him of my own free will- I joined him because... because I love him." " You what?!" ''Sandfoot cried. " I don't believe that for a second!" " Well, you'd better," Minnowstar growled back at her former deputy. " Get out of here, get out! Why'd you have to do this and spoil everything?" " Because you are our leader!" Sandfoot gasped. " Flashstar manipualted you, can't you see? You have a duty to us, and you broke the warrior code, the code you swore to defend with ''your life!" '' Minnowstar let out a furious snarl. " If you don't leave now, Sandfoot, ''my ''warriors will kill you. I- yes- I will ''kill you!" '' The ginger she-cat swallowed, trembling. Her green eyes were now full of hurt and pain. " Then so be it. I won't leave you, Minnowstar, I will be loyal to you until I die... even if you won't." Sandfoot's former leader merely curled her lip and stepped back, meekly, for Flashstar to take change. The tom, blue eyes cold as ice, raised his tail. His warriors surged from the bracken, and within moments, the camp was transformed into a frenzy. Brother fought for brother, sister saw sister fall. The ground turned red and slippery with blood. When the fighting ended, there were no victory cries or wails of pain. There was no sound, because no one was left. ~ When the two leaders opened their eyes once more, they were in a darkened grassland. The air was cold and ''slimy, ''almost, crawling around their necks and up their nostrils. Flashstar looked down at screeched in horror. His paws, he realized, were transparent. ''We're dead! ''he tried to yell, but it only came from him in thought. The thought echoed. ''Where are we? Is this StarClan? '' ''No, ''a stern voice replied. From beyond the bushes he saw a tortoiseshell appear, her fur glowing with starlight. Despite her majestic appearance, her eyes were sad. ''That is the Dark Forest, son. '' ''Why? ''Minnowstar wailed, flattening her ears. ''I did no wrong- '' ''- no, none at all! ''the tortoiseshell thundered sarcastically. ''Except betray your Clan, the code, and allow the slaughter of so, so many! Sunningrocks are bathed in blood, and the river runs rampant with the corpses of dead warriors. All because you, foolish one, ran away on a whim! Your own selfish desires! It was love, mother! ''Flashstar protested. ''The strongest power, true love. She wanted to be with me and I let her. '' ''You broke the code, it is there for a reason! ''the tortoiseshell growled. ''I condemn you, now, to a life of pain in the Dark Forest- penance, for what you have done! '' ''No, please, no! ''Minnowstar shrieked, flinging herself to the ground. ''Love is stronger than the code, love is everything. Please! I know if I had more time I could sort things out, I could fix this-'' ''- but you don't have more time! What good did 'love' do for you? It killed your warriors! So many innocent will die because they tried to remain faithful. But- you say love is the greatest power? What about a compromise? A compromise? Yes. If love is the greatest power, you say, then it should be able to triumph over all. If the love between you two is so pure it can justify your actions, I give you a challenge. I will allow you to be reborn, but into a world where you hate each other- loathing fills your heart the moment of your birth. If you are able to fall in love once more, I will reconsider my verdict. But if you do not, the Dark Forest is your home forever. '' ''We agree. '' ''Then it is so. '' The two leaders vanished in a whirl of starlight, shadow, and impossibility. Chapter One Mothtail couldn't hide her disappointment. A loud sigh heaved out of her throat. ''"Rainkit," she hissed angrily. "What were you doing?" "Sunkit stole my fish!" Rainkit yowled. "So I hit him!" "Rainkit, you don't hit cats just because they take your food," Mothtail groaned. In response, Rainkit only pouted. "But he took my fish!" "Go to time-out," Mothtail ordered. "I don't want to!" Mothtail growled in the menacing way a mother does. Rainkit squeaked and ran to the time-out corner, sulking. Her young little face was twisted into nothing more than frowns and glares. Sunkit sat there, his chest puffed up proudly. As soon as the queens stepped out of the nursery to get some prey, he didn't miss a beat to tease Rainkit. "Hahaha!" Sunkit trilled. "You're in time-out! Boo! Boo! You suck, Rainkit!" "I don't suck!" Rainkit protested. "Yeah you do!" "You suck!" "You're stupid!" "Ooo, you said a bad word!" "You don't have any proof! I'm gonna tell Mothtail you said a bad word!" Rainkit, fully aware of how many scoldings would entail that, let out a roar. "SUNKIT! I hate you!" The queens rushed back in to see what was going on to find that Rainkit had left the time-out corner and had Sunkit pinned beneath her paws, pressing his face against the earth as he let out loud screeches of pain and terror. In reality, Sunkit was perfectly fine. He let Rainkit think she was beating him up, and screamed like there was no tomorrow. The mothers all cried out in surprise. Mothtail rushed to wrangle Rainkit off of Sunkit. Honeyjaw, after fussing over her son for a little while, cast Mothtail and Rainkit a nasty glare. "Sorry, sorry," Mothtail apologized, hanging her head. She quickly grabbed Rainkit by the scruff and dragged her outside the nursery. Rainkit didn't even shrink at her mother's withering gaze. "Rainkit why in the name of StarClan were you hurting Sunkit like that?" Mothtail demanded. "He was being a jerk!" Rainkit responded. Mothtail frustratedly wrang her paws, wanting to yank the fur off her skin. "Rainkit, you don't do that! Did I teach you to hurt other cats? What am I doing wrong? What do I need to do so you'll understand that you just don't hurt cats!" To her surprise, Rainkit did not back down like before. Not like any of the kits Mothtail had ever raised. She only lifted her four-moon-old chin higher. "Get rid of Sunkit, and then we'll talk," Rainkit meowed. This only made Mothtail's eyes blaze. "TIME-OUT!" she roared. "Now!" As Rainkit walked to her new time-out corner- the old one in the nursery was too close to Sunkit for Honeyjaw's taste- she heard Sunkit being coddled by his parents. "Oh, baby, we're so sorry that nasty Rainkit attacked you," Honeyjaw cooed. "Don't listen to what she says." "You're a good kit, son," Stonefoot said. "We'll make sure she can't hurt you again." Rainkit burned at the sounds, imagining Sunkit's smug face as he basked in his parents' babying. Her claws tore into the grass angrily as she sat in her corner. Seasons seemed to pass as Rainkit sat there boredly. She dozed off, and when she awoke she realized that it had gone from sunhigh to dusk. Pawsteps crunched in the leaves and her head jerked up. Brackenstorm had come to check up on her. "Hey, Rainy," he called warmly. Rainkit leapt up and hugged him, forgetting all about the fact that she was in time-out. Brackenstorm chuckled warmly. Rainkit breathed in his scent- the nutty smell of squirrel was thick in his fur, she noted, meaning he'd just come back from hunting. Brackenstorm pushed Rainkit away a bit and his face turned a little more serious. "Why'd you hurt Sunkit, Rainy?" "He was- he was being mean to me," Rainkit spluttered. "Just because someone's being mean doesn't mean you can attack him," Brackenstorm responded. "You need to learn that, or you'll get in big trouble when you become a warrior, you hear?" "Okay," Rainkit echoed dully. "Good," Brackenstorm meowed. He patted her head with his tail. "Now come on, I caught a mouse for you and Mothtail to share." For the rest of the week, Rainkit was happy. Mothtail and Brackenstorm were satisfied. It appeared that Rainkit had learned her lesson. While she avoided Sunkit, she was fairly easygoing, and found friends in the kits of other litters. It looked like the innocence of kithood had smoothed over the incident like it did for all other kits. But the power of kithood is nothing for the will of StarClan, and wounds destined by the ancestors are not so easily healed. Chapter Two